Method of treating hydrocarbon oil



March 29,- 1927.

H. M. LASHER METHOD OF TREATING HYDROCARBON OIL Filed Nov. 16. 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 1:

March 29, 1927. I ,622,453

H. M. LASHER METHOD OF TREATING HYDROCARBON OIL Filed Nov. 16. 1920 2Sheets-Sheet 2 N I J Patented Mar. 29, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

nanny mcnanr. Lasrma, or

KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE KANSAS CITY GASOLINE COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF KANSAS.

' METHOD OF TREATING HYDROCARBON OIL.

Application filed November 18, 1920. Serial No 424,471.

My invention relates to the art of refinin hydrocarbon oils The objectof the present invention is t coordinate the heating, cracking and otherfunctions of my own and other processes so as to secure an increase inefliciency in speed in the lower 'part of the cracking chamber,

" elevation, the fractionator and under the ordinar so that any carbonthat is formed tends to fall by gravitv to the lowest part of thecracking cham er; drained off without adherence to the chamber walls,which in this case are not exposed to the external heat but instead areinsulated to prevent the loss of heat supplied from within.

I shall disclose herein a suitable form of apparatus for practicing mynew method, but it is to be understood; that all changes therein lyingwithin the scope of goodengineering practice are contemplated by me Theillustration herein is diagrammatic only, as

the details of construction can 'be readily su lied by those familiarwith this art.

y process can best be understood by reference to apparatus such asillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 IS adiagrammatic plan view ofa system for the practice of the invention;-andFig. 2 is a similar diagram with parts in condenser bein howeveromitted. a I ave included, for want of a better term,

the various materials used, namel carbon in the form of{ coke or coal ora epositof carbon on a matrix such as fire brick, calcium chloride orsodium chloride, I

In my application SerialyNo. 365,35 filed -March 12, 1920, I havedescribed the se of carbon as a catalyst, and in my subsequentapplication, Serial No. 376,103, filed A ril 23, 1920, and Serial No.393,424 filed uly 1, 1920, I have described a modification in which thecatalyst is located on a shelf or communicated to the oil an .into coil4. 5 is a where it can be readily designation of catalyst otherwiseelevated above the bottom of the still. In all said a plications thecracking still itself is heated directl and the heat d to the-catalystthrough the oil. ploy the catalyst in the cracking, still. but do notheat'the latter directly. The catalyst is elevated above the bottomofthe still however, so as to leave a clear space beneath to which A zone.

Referring to the drawings: 1 is a still or container capable ofwithstanding considerable pressure and completely insulated externallywith heat resisting material 1. 2

1s a pipe connection leading from the inside of the still to the pump 3which discharges the interior of the still in a position directly abovethe catalyst shelf 16 and catalyst 17 which in turn is located directlyabove the liquid level 15 as shown'in Fig. 2.

Now, -as\.. to the operation, the oil is pumped into the still until itreaches a level indicated by .No. 15 which is substantially higher thanthe top level of the coils in the furnace, thereby insuring the coils tobe full of oil at all times. The pump 18 now started and the furnace isfired, the oil is circulated rapidly from the still throughthe coils outthrough the spray, over. and through the catalyst, dropping back down tothe liquid in the lower part of the still.

The operation is continuous and as the temperature of the oil rises tothe point at which the catalyst acts upon it, cracking commences andsome gases 'are made which are held within the still by keeping, valve12 closed until such gases generate the desired pressure under which theoperation is to be conducted, then'the valve is partially opened orclosed to hold the desired ressure allowing, the gasoline as it is ma eto flow into a receiving tank. A fractionator is interposed between thecondenser and still, which is of the proper proportion to backtrap intothe zone of action, any of the distillates which are not of desirablenature. It is noticed that the wholes stem is under like pressure, whichserves t e. purpose of causing the oil to have a higher boiling point,and consequently increases the catalysis. As the gasoline is made anddrawn ofi, more heavy oilis pumped in through In the present case Iem- Ihave referred as the"quietoil pipe connection leadingfrom coil 4 tospray 6 which is located in valve 21 to maintain the proper oil level inthe still.

13 fitted with a suitable draw-off valve V The coil 4 in which the oil.is circulated and heated, is enclosed within a furnace 14 of anysuitable type. I have shown the coil as composed of straight sectionswhich in practice have been found to work well with lengths up to twentyfeet and diameters from three to six inches. Alternate pipes are shownconnected outside the furnace walls, and the straight members providedwith heads which in practice are made detachable for purposes ofcleaning. These protruding portions of the coil may be in-.

sulated in any suitable manner, as for example by enclosure within adead air space. The pipe lines 2 and 5 extending between the furnace andthe cracking chamber may also be insulated. I have found that the neatrequired may be accurately determined by using pyromete'rs at criticalpoints such as 19 and 20, and the like, and while I am not limited toany particular primary source of heat, it should in any event beregulable as regards its application to the coil 4;.

The advantages of this system are at once seen, when we refer back topast experiences which have shown us that to crack .oil with heat, it isnecessary to have a space relation, and as the tubes-in thiscase arealways full of rapidly circulating oil no cracking takes lace andconsequently no carbon is formed in them. Over-heating .of the oil andabsence of cracking in the tubes is fur- .ther assured by placing apyrometer between the spray and the coil as shown at No.

19? by whose aid the proper temperature can be maintained by merelyraising or low-- ering the fires in the furnace. The cracking thereforetakes place when the hot' oil sprays down over the catalyst and any carecon that is formed, either adheres to the catalyzer or drops down to'thequiet oil zone below.- Pipe 2 leading from the still to the pump is soarranged that the oil is taken from near the surface and does not.disturb the oil in the lower part of the still, thereby leaving thecarbon to settle in a quiet zone. The fact that the still is not heatedby'fire, but rather merely-maintains the heat of the oil by beingthoroughly insulated, makes the still good for high pressures withoutdanger.

It is readily seen that this process can also be practiced withoutpressure by merely leaving valve No. 12 wide open. Also the process canbe operated with the oil under pressure and the rest of the systemwithout pressure by interposing an automatic relief valve-between thespray 6 and lead-in pipe 5, at the point marked V. Such valves are knownin the art and need no description. The desired pressure used and thetemperature of the still are varied according to the character of theoil under treatment and of the product desired, the pressure being fromatmospheric up and the temperature from 350 C. to 500 C.

What I claim is: 1 r

The method of cracking hydrocarbon oil which consists in heating andcracking the oil in separate chambers, while maintaining a uniformpressureand constant circulation through and between said chambersconveying the heat energy necessar for conversion and cracking in theoil itself from the heating zone to the cracking zone, and spraying saidheated oil over a fixed catalyst in the cracking chamber in a positionabove the bottom thereof so as to leave a quiet zone in the lower partof the chamber whereby any carbon formed therein will fall by gravity tothe lgwest part thereof, and uncracked heavy portions of the oil willcollect over said carbon, withdrawing the lighter cracked products fromabove the catalyst andreturnin the said heavier 1i uid roducts intocirculation to, and throug the eating chamber from below said catalyst.

, In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY MICHAEL LASHER

